Wing construction



Jar 1. 22, 1935. E A, STALKER 1,988,670

wme consmucnou Original Filed lies. 13, 1929 In vep for formed by the wing beams by means of the ducts through the openings 10. The fan discharges the Patented Jan. 22, 1.935

' UNIT-ED STATES PA TEN'TOFFICE Application December 13, 1929, Serial No. 418,752

Renewed June li 1934 18 Claima ((1244-12) My invention relates to improvements in alrsurface with higher energy content next to the plane wings in which a suction device is used to surface than it would otherwise have because of remove some of the air from the surface of the the friction along the wall. This aids and inwing; and the objects of my invention are first, creases the flow through the passage. to provide an electrically driven or other type of It is further obvious that in the event the motor suction pump consuming the minimum power for fails, air is still removed from the surface of the drawing the air into the wing; secondly. to provide wing through the agency of the suction above the a means of preventing water from entering the wingdue to the difference in pressure existing be-' wing, tween the wing tip (or the leading edge) and the It is known in the science of aeronautics that aft portion of the wing; or between the throat of if a small quantity of air is drawn into the wing the venturi and the high pressure regions of the from the upper surface of the wing, the wing can wing. Thus the passage 8, 9 provides such acomfictain high lifting power at large angles of atmunication. Likewise, the passage or route 9, 11,

It is desirable to obtain this lifting capaci with the minimum weight of the pumping installation. This object will be best obtained if the pressure diference between the inlet and outlet of the pump is small.

The pump should therefore discharge by means of an expanding conical tubeinto a low pressure region, but this region should be such that the efliciency of the airplane is not greatly impaired. The region near thewing tip is the most desir; able. The battery and motor weight required are thus appreciably lowered by this arrangement.

Furthermore the required power is less for a given lift if the wing section has a high arching of the mean camber line.

I attain the above objects by the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 represents a plan view of an airplane wing. Figure 2 is a vertical section through the wing at A-A and Figure 3 is a vertical section through the wing at 3-3. Figure 4 defines the wing section.

In Figure l a wing 1 encloses the electric motor 2 driven by current flowing in the wires 3. The motor and the fan 4 are supported by the. platform'5. The wing beams-are indicated by 6 and "I. The fan 4 draws air from the compartments In Figure 2 the channel 18 extends along under ./through the slot is thrown to the bottom of the slot by centrifugal force when the air makes the turn necessary to pass-through the opening 19.

. A tube 20 drains the water from the channel.

In Figure lthe wing section is 21 and the mean camber line is 22. The maximum ordinate 23 of the mean camber line is measured from the subtending chord 24. The ordinate is best expressed as a ratio to the chord length. Where the term series of openings is used it includes a single slotlike opening which may be regarded as thelim'iting case of a series of openings extending along the line of the slot.

The maximum lift of the conventional wing reaches its maximum with a maximum camber ordinate less than 10%. Even wings of this camber ordinate are not used in practicebecauseof theirhigh resistance. By removing the air which is normally slowed up by friction with the wing tically ideal (non viscous) flow can be obtained.- Inthiscaseastreamofiluidmaybemadeto ined in practice if the boundary layer is removed. Thus wings with a maximum mean camber greater than per cent..are possible with lifting capacity some ten times greater than normal wings. The drag or resistance may be correspondingly reduced. 4

It is well known that with boundary layer removal tlie angle of attack may be increased to large .values and correspondingly high lifts may be obtained. However, in many cases it is advan- 8 and 9 and so draws air from the wing surface air through the expanding duct 11 so that the ve- I locity of discharge is a minimum. The air is discharged into the compartmentv 12 which is sealed ofi from the remainder of the wing by the partition 13; Air is withdrawn from the compartment 12 by meansofyenturis 14, 15, and 16 shown in Figure 3. Holes 17 at the Venturi throats areathe openings through which air is withdrawn from the compartment 12. By dis- It is unpleasant ,for passengers to be rotated charging the air to the passage at the inner surthrough an angular range in excess of about 20 face the flow carried upward adjacent to the degrees. with high cambers-the rotation may great range of angles of attack. This may be accomplished by increasing the camber instead.

tageous to obtain the high lift without using a 17 provides a similar means of communication.

the slots 10 in the wing. Any water entering" surface (that is, the boundary layer), a praca turn through and such a case may be real- I I the openings, and a means of separating water from the air before it reaches the means of causing the flow..

2. In combination with a wing possessing openings in the surface and a maximum.mean camber ordinate greater than nine per cent of the chord, means ofcausing a flow through the openings, said means being in'communication,

- through an expanding passage, with a Venturiseries of openings in like passage.

3. In combination with a wing possessing openings in the surface, a maximum mean camber ordinate greater than eight per cent of the chord length, a thickness greater than eighteen per cent of the chord, means of causing a flow through the openings, said means being in communication, through an expanding passage, with .the throat of a Venturi-like passage.

4. In combination with a; wing possessing a set of openings in the wing surface, and distributed over the surface, a means independent of the relative motion of the air past the aircraft, of causing an inwardilow of air through the wing openings, and of discharging the air at the upper surface of the wing, ahead of a point two-thirds of the chord back from the leading edge near the Wing's lateral extremity.

5. In combination with a wing possessing a set'of openings in the wing surface, and distribut'ed over the surface, a means, actuated by energy independent of the energy of the air flow relative to the airplane, of causing an inward flow of air through thewing openings, and of discharging the air ,at the upper surface of the wing ahead of a point two-thirds of the chord back from the leading edge near the Wing's lateral extremity. r

6. In combination with a wing possessing a series of openings in the wing surface and distributed over the surface, a means, independent of the relative motion of the airplane through the air, of. causing an inward flow of air through the wing openings and of discharging the air through a passage having its exit at the upper surface of the wing, ahead of a point two-thirds of the chord back from, the leading edge near the wings lateral extremity, the said means being interposed between the entrance and'exit openings of the pe. x

7. In combination with a wing w: g openings in the surface,- and a maximum thickness greater than eighteen percent. of the chord, means of causing a flow through the openings, said means being in communication through'an expanding passage with a Venturi-like passage.

8. In combination .wit a wing possessing a wing surface, a prime mover, and a pumping means with anexpanding passage in communication with a venturi.

9. In combination with awing possessing a series of'openings in the wing surface, a prime mover, and-a pumping with an expanding passage in communication with a throat of a venturi. V

10. In combination with a wing openings in the sin-face, a means of causing an inward flow of air through the openings, said means being in communication, through an expanding passage, with a passage having a diverg-' ing section. Y

11. In combination with a wing possessing openings in its surface, a means of causing a flow of air through the openings, said means being in communication, through an expanding passage, with a passage having a diverging or converging part, one entrance-being at the lower surface of the wing.

12. In combination with a wing pmessing openings in the surface and a maximum mean camber ordinate lying between nine per cent. and fifty per cent. of the chord, means of causing a flow through the openings, said means being in communication through an expanding passage, with a passage between the upper and lower surfaces of the wings.

13. In combination with a wing openings in the surface and a maximum means camber ordinate lying between nine per cent and fifty per cent of the chord, means .of causing a flow through the openings said means being in communication through an expanding passage with another passage through the wing.

14. A wing possessing openings in its upper surface, a substantially free passage extending from the region below to the region above the wing, openings in the passage wall to cause an inward fiow of air through the wing openings, and means to extract moisture from the air before it reaches the passage.

15. In a wing associated with a main'relative.

flow and possessing openings in the upper surfacefor the induction of the boundary layer; a through tube providing .a passage from the under side to the upper side of the wing to provide a flow therethrough of energy content substantially as large as the energy content of the main relative flow per unit, of mass, a. perforated passage wall to provide openings into the'wing interior, a means of pumping in communication with the wing surface openings, and a conduit to provide communication between the pump and he passage wall openings for discharge of the inducted air adjacent to the interior surface of the said wail.

16. In a wing associated with a main relative flow of air and possessing a narrow spanwise slot in the upper surface for the induction of the boundary layer, a through passage from the under side to' the upper side providing aflow'of air therein whose energy content at the exit is substantially-equal to the energy content of the main relative flow-per unit of mass, a perforated passage wall to provide openings leading into the wing interior, a means of pumping in communication with the surface openings, and an expanding conduit leading from the pump and in communication with the passage wall openings to enable the means of pumping to discharge into the passage. EDWARD A. STALKER. 

